MLB Said to Get $6.8 Billion From Fox, Turner for TV Rights

By Edmund Lee -
Oct 2, 2012

Major League Baseball will get $6.8
billion from News Corp. (NWSA)’s Fox and Time Warner Inc. (TWX)’s Turner
networks for the rights to broadcast games through 2021 in a
contract extension, said two executives familiar with the deal.

Fox will pay an average of $525 million a year, with Turner
paying about $325 million annually, said the people, who asked
not to be identified because the terms weren’t made public. The
parties announced the deal today without disclosing the
financial arrangements.

The deal brings MLB’s total revenue from nationally
televised games to $12.4 billion over the next eight years,
including an August agreement with Walt Disney Co. (DIS)’s ESPN,
Commissioner Bud Selig said on a conference call today.

“We are living in the golden age of baseball,” he said.
“I am thrilled that we will continue our relationships with
both Fox and Turner.”

The new agreement covers the 2014 through 2021 baseball
seasons, according to the statement. Turner’s TBS network and
Fox will each have rights to one league championship series in
every year and two division series. Fox has rights to more
regular-season baseball games, as well as the World Series. Both
Turner and Fox will be able to stream games over the Internet
live as part of the extended agreement for viewers who already
pay for a cable or satellite service.

Sports programming commands some of the highest fees from
cable and satellite providers, accounting for a big piece of
networks’ revenue. ESPN, for example, generates $5.13 for every
pay-TV subscriber, compared with the industry average of 26
cents, according to SNL Kagan.

“This new agreement adds considerable value to our
portfolio of offerings,” David Levy, Turner’s president for
sports, said in the statement. “We’re pleased to extend our
relationship with the MLB brand across multiple screens to
create an even richer baseball experience for our viewers,
advertisers and distribution partners.”